Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-12-17


in its normal condition once more, and high
above US looking down unmoved Upon the
sleeping world, scared the radiant moon.
Her soft light fell upon the waters, making a
glittering silver pathway across the ocean,
while the stars twinkled merTily about their
radiant queen. 1t was glorious night and
not a sound broke upon the silent air. Even
the breakers were silenced, nor could we
find trace of them. The force Of the vast
wave as it struck the shore must have caused
the roar that seemed to foretell our doom.
While l slept, Capt. Jack and his men had
been busy freeing the vessel from the mass of
sea weed with which it was surrounded, and
had cleared it so that there would be no
difficulty in putting to sea when the breeze
that was to carry us sprang up, for the calm
still continued.
"Where are wegn asked Ned.
"Can't say, SIR" answered Capt. Jack;
"teetotaly lost my reckonin' in that there
storm an can't make no observation by the
moon. We're Off some big island or other,
judgin' from them mountains, but what, is
more'n can tell"
''Were we in the neighborhood of any land
when you last took your reckoningf' asked.
Nearest place was the coast of Portugal,
an we can't be there, COS that was TO the
BASTARD of us an we've been druv wes' most
o. the time.n
''What was the nearest land to the west q
our position theng" queried Ned.
''The Azores was wes' sow-wes'," said Capt.
Jack, IAN if we're there, which l bet my
bottom dollar we amt, then we've done
about the fastest bit of travelin' | ever heard
tell Of The seven league boots was infant
TO it.n
''Well, suppose we row ashore and find
out" said Ned.
It'll be tough pull through all that there
sea weed" said the captain, ''but if you want
to go I'll try it. / must say I'm bit curious
about it myself"
Shortly after we were laboriously working
passage through the mass of sea weed lying
upon the water and after half an hour of
hard work succeeded in reaching rocky
point that jutted into the water.
Leaving the men in charge Of the boat
Ned, Capt. Jack and / proceeded upon our
trip of exploration, fully expecting to come
upon some fisherman's hut at every step, but
5he place was deserted.
Not living thing appeared besides our
selves, either human or of the brute creation.
The island or whatever it was, appeared
TO be of a rocky formation. and it was COW
cred in all directions with thick carpet of
tangled sea weed, but we saw no vegetation
If any kind.
Huge pools of water liz peded our progress,
and the land itself, wher, it was not of bed
rock, seemed to be one mass of oozy mud.
Here and there we observed dead fish upon
the ground, and live ones swimming in the
larger pools of water
We walked some distance along the shore
without observing anything worthy of note
Just before US rose a cliff, shutting out the
curve of the coast from our view.
We decided to walk round this obstruction
hoping to find some clew to our whereabouts
upon the other side.
Not far from the cliff we discovered stone
pier, solidly built, with large iron or bronze
rings for mooring vessels to, but no sign of
ship or man. Rounding the point which i'm
peded our view, we were struck dumb with
establishment at the sight which met our eyes
Some five hundred yards above us, on a
gently rising slope, lay the ruins OF an
ancient city, bathed in moonlight and backed
by the dark slopes Of rugged mountain
range.
Here again we saw the inexplicable masses
Of sea weed, not only upon the ground, but
everywhere, even upon the ruins themselves,
hanging in festoons from pillar to pillar,
forming in places roof instead Of the one
which had long since gone to decay, or MAX
ing curtains for doorways through which no
human foot had passed for centuries.
The scene was weird to the extreme; drops
of moisture upon the sea weed reflected the
moonlight here and there, giving the ruins
the effect of being illuminated by millions of
fairy lamps 1t was grand, it was sublime, il
was beyond description.
When the sight first met our eyes we stood
awestruck.
''Do you know the placer asked Ned of the
captain
81 never see it before" was the response;
and without further questioning we proceeded
to approach the majestic city of tlfe dead
Ned was badly frightened ON the way 10y a
large porpoise, lying partly submerged in a
shallow pool, that jumped and tapped about
as he was passing, thereby treating him to q
very respectable shower bath.
We tried to think of some reason why this
huge fish was SO far from its native element
and in a position which it was clearly unabl~
to reach by itself, but gave up tho problem
and pushed on through mud and slime to the
mysterious city. The way seemed very long
until by good fortune we came upon a broai
road, leading to the very gate, which was
comparatively clear,
The architecture, to my inexperienced eye
at least, seemed to be Egyptian. A high and
massive wall, fully twenty feet thick, sur
rounded the city, and the gate before us was
cut through it,
Over the gate was statue, and we hazarded
n guess that it was intended for Neptune, but
it was almost impossible to tell with any de-
gree of certainty, since the sea weed so COW
cred it, like everything else, that not more
than half the figure was visible
Upon the arch of the gate was rude cary
ing, in relief, which undoubtedly represented
the sun, and on either side were five stars.
Some odd looking ships or galleys, with
queerly shaped sails, completed the design,
which was executed with no mean skill.
Entering, we saw row on row of pillars
and walls in various states of preservation,
with seaweed dangling from them in every